bad bluray blanks or bad DVD writer?

[jmelson]

No good place to put this question, so here goes...
I have an LG BD-RE WH14NS40 DVD wrtiter, and backups are getting too big for standard bluray disks, so I got some RiDATA BD-R DL blank media, and tried to do a 44 GB backup.  First disk was rejected immediately, second one ran all the way through, but then was not readable.  I'm trying to figure out if the dual-layer media are no good or the LG DVD writer is not able to write dual-layer reliably.  It IS supposed to be capable of writing dual-layer.  Looking around the internet, some people say to get a Pioneer writer and Verbatim blanks, but I'd like some guidance before spending significant money on it.
Thanks for any pointers.
Jon

[Kleinstein]

Single layer discs are more reliable than dual layer. So I would prefer the signle layer version even if this means creating 2 discs.
The size of the backup looks rather large - it may be worth thinking about which data to actually backup or maybe use more sensible incremental backups.

[wraper]

It can be either. But imho more likely it's a problematic writer. On other hand, what's the point? HDD costs less for the amount of storage, most likely will last longer in storage (BD-R lasts about 5-10 years in average, and DL should be less reliable). Not to say HDD is is way easier and faster to use.

[jmelson]

It can be either. But imho more likely it's a problematic writer. On other hand, what's the point? HDD costs less for the amount of storage, most likely will last longer in storage (BD-R lasts about 5-10 years in average, and DL should be less reliable). Not to say HDD is is way easier and faster to use.

The problem is making multiple copies of mission-critical stuff, to put in fireproof safes at multiple locations.  YES, I do use a 1 TB hard drive for backup every couple of days, but then want to make DVD copies every couple months.
Jon

[wraper]

Well, you could just buy a bunch of 64GB flash drives. Will cost a bit more. Retention will suck too but probably will be fine for 5-10 years if NAND FLASH is not a total junk. Still less hassle.

[jmelson]

Well, you could just buy a bunch of 64GB flash drives. Will cost a bit more. Retention will suck too but probably will be fine for 5-10 years if NAND FLASH is not a total junk. Still less hassle.

a 64 GB flash drive costs about 10X what these DL DVD's cost.  That doesn't seem to be a great bargain.  But, I guess they are re-writeable, so that helps some.
Jon

[wraper]

Well, you could just buy a bunch of 64GB flash drives. Will cost a bit more. Retention will suck too but probably will be fine for 5-10 years if NAND FLASH is not a total junk. Still less hassle.

a 64 GB flash drive costs about 10X what these DL DVD's cost.  That doesn't seem to be a great bargain.  But, I guess they are re-writeable, so that helps some.
Jon

Huh? It's about 2-3x difference compared with 50GB DL when looking on amazon prices.

[jmelson]

Well, I got some Verbatim blank dual layer disks, and they would not write, either, on my drive.  So, I went back to 25 GB single layer disks.  I had to move some files around so that my main directory tree was less than 25 GB.  I'm wondering if this is a software issue in K3B or the drivers that it uses?
Jon

[mariush]

You could just stick to DVD-R or DVD+R discs ...they're less than 1$ each for dual layer discs, for example 45$ for a 50 pack https://www.amazon.com/Verbatim-DVD-8-5GB-Branded-Surface/dp/B005F2YPH2/

Compress your files into 7zip archive with multiple volumes (ex 100 MB files or 500 MB files) and then use something like Quickpar to create parity information for error correction and recovery in case the discs go bad : http://www.quickpar.org.uk/    - probably around 10% would be enough as a precaution.
 
So your 44 GB backup could fit into 6 discs (~7 GB of content + error recovery info)

Yeah, no-name or random brands of bluray seem cheaper (ex around 2$ for a 50GB disc in a 10 pack) but you see how much compatibility problems you can have.